Carnival of Chaos
'' Helping Jamaica ''is the twenty-third book in the Middle School Experience series. It tells the story of Chloe and her friends participating in a fundraiser to raise money for a recent natural disaster in Jamaica. The girls are worried about the citizens in Jamaica whose homes had been destroyed by an earthquake. To help them out, Chloe comes up with the idea to host a school carnival to raise money for the victims. All the Lakewood students have to manage a booth. Unfortunately, Chloe and her friends begin constantly arguing over ideas for their booth--and keep arguing when they finally get things organized. The girls may be helping Jamaica--but can they help each other get along? Summary The story begins with Chloe, Daphne, and Maryann attending a drama club meeting. They are excited to practice for the upcoming school play, but when they arrive, Ms. Thomas informs them that the members will not be practicing today. She explains that before school had ended, she had received an e-mail from her church informing her that several members who had been on a mission trip in Jamaica had died in an earthquake. Chloe states that the drama club needs to help the victims of the earthquake, who had lost everything. Ms. Thomas believes that a fundraiser will be a good idea, but there will be no time for it because of play practice. However, the drama club members convince her that a fundraiser will be worth it, and Chloe suggests that they should host an indoor carnival. The majority of the drama club likes the idea, and Ms. Thomas is grateful that the students want to continue her deceased friends' mission. The next day during class, Chloe tells Leah about the fundraiser. Leah tells her that she can get a few girls to help her put on a fashion show to raise money, but Chloe tells her that the drama club had decided on having a fundraiser. Leah is annoyed by Chloe's plan because she believes that it is babyish. She decides that she will help Chloe with the carnival, but she personally wouldn't support it. After school that day, Chloe invites her friends over to her house to think of ideas for a carnival booth. Alex suggests a cartoon-related idea, and Regina suggests an art theme, but Chloe rejects those ideas. She asks Leah if she has an idea, and Leah suggests that they put on a mini-fashion show. When Chloe tells her that the booth idea needs to be simple, Leah makes a rude and insensitive comment, which angers Ellie and causes her to snap. Chloe tells Leah not to start drama, but Leah retorts that if Chloe keeps rejecting everyone's ideas, she should come up with the theme for their booth. Ellie suggests that the girls put on a small skit, and everyone seems to agree that the idea is good. The girls begin thinking of ideas for their skit, but Ellie notices that Leah is refusing to help, which angers her. The next day after school, the girls meet at Chloe's house to read lines of the skit that Chloe had written. Some of the girls are optimistic about the play, but some are beginning to grow doubtful of the idea. Leah makes rude comments, which annoys Chloe. Chloe splits the girls into two groups to practice the play; her group consists of Ellie, Leah, Jessie, and Regina. Chloe assigns herself and Regina as two American volunteers, and has everyone else play Jamaican citizens. She wants her group to turn the skit into a musical, much to Ellie's dismay. Leah complains about the skit and tells her that the idea is a failure. Ellie speaks up and reminds the girls that the skit idea was hers, and Chloe snaps at her and tells her that her opinion doesn't count because she refused to sing. The two groups decide to perform their versions of the skit. Maryann's group does very well, but Chloe's group is very subpar. Chloe is worried that the entire school, who is involved in the carnival, isn't taking her idea seriously based on Leah and Ellie's behaviors. It turns out that practicing for a play while planning a carnival at the same time is becoming stressful for Chloe. Before homeroom, Chloe confesses to Daphne and Maryann about her stress and about Leah and Ellie's behaviors. Maryann and Daphne think Chloe should cut Ellie some slack, but agree that Leah is acting bratty. They try to convince Chloe that Ellie and Leah will eventually come through and help her with the booth. Meanwhile, Alex, Ellie, and Leah are talking about the carnival. Ellie confesses to her friends that she doesn't like the way Chloe had ruined her idea, but Leah taunts her about the idea being lame in general, and Ellie stomps away. Leah doesn't show any regrets about her behavior, and Alex decides to go see if Ellie is okay. Leah decides to meet up with some of her other friends, and runs into Jessie and Freddy. Jessie confesses that she doesn't think their group should continue with the skit, and that prompts Leah to consider telling Chloe about their feelings. Chloe's group decides to meet at Chloe's house to work on the skit. Chloe indirectly implies that Ellie is the weakest person in the group, and Ellie is about to snap something back, but Jessie interrupts her and tells Chloe that their group doesn't want to work on the play anymore. Chloe immediately snaps at Leah for convincing Jessie to turn against her, but Ellie tells her that Chloe had ruined her idea and tells Chloe that she is a bad script writer and should stick to acting. Leah snaps at Ellie for coming up with a bad idea, and Chloe snaps at Ellie and tells her that she should be seen and not heard. When Regina tries to calm everyone down, they end up getting into an even bigger fight. Eventually, Leah leaves the house and Chloe kicks everyone else out. When Ellie's mom arrives to pick her up, Ellie burst into tears. At home, Daphne calls her and tells her that Chloe is upset, and Ellie tells her about the mean things that Leah and Chloe had said to her. She decides that she doesn't want to be friends with Leah or Chloe anymore. The next day at school, Leah manages to avoid Ellie and Chloe. At lunch, Daphne reveals that Chloe has lost motivation to work on the carnival, and Regina and Jessie feel bad about what had happened yesterday. Leah doesn't, and tries to convince her friends to go with her fashion show theme. However, the girls think that Leah is being insensitive, and annoyed, Leah decides to sit with another group. After school, the girls sans Leah and Ellie gather at Maryann's house. Chloe has to be motivated to attend this meeting because she has lost motivation on anything involving the carnival. Maryann's group acts out the skit, and Chloe thinks they are very good, but is still sad that she doesn't have a part in their booth. Gail suggests that the girls who don't want to be a part of the play help out with selling desserts while the customers watch the play. Chloe likes this idea, and the girls make plans on what desserts to sell at the carnival. Gail forwards an email to Leah and Ellie about the plans for the girls' booth. Leah, who is annoyed that not many girls in their grade are interested in starting a fashion booth, is infuriated by the email and e-mails an angry message to Chloe. Chloe responds back rudely, which angers Leah even more. In the end, Leah decides to help her friends, but she wishes that the carnival will be over. Ellie also decides to help her friends, but is doubtful that she and Chloe will ever become friends again. She is surprised to learn that Leah wants to help out, but she overhears her telling Gail that she is only helping so she can prove that she does care about the Jamaican victims. On the day of the carnival, Ellie, Alex, Leah, and Alex's sister are dropped off at Lakewood so they can walk to the gym and set up their booths. When they arrive, Chloe greet Alex and Katelyn warmly, but doesn't say anything to Leah and Ellie. When Chloe continues to act rude towards her, Ellie finally decides to confront her. Chloe confesses that she had been stressed and that her feelings had been hurt when their group hadn't taken her skit seriously. Ellie realizes that she had never once considered Chloe's feelings and apologizes for her behavior. Chloe apologizes for her hurtful comments towards Ellie and the two make up. They meet back up with the rest of their friends, and Chloe makes plans on how their booth will run throughout the carnival. Leah complains about having to sell food, but Ellie tells her that this is her punishment for not helping out the other times. Ms. Thomas calls all of the drama club members outside for a quick meeting, and soon, the carnival begins. The girls' booth becomes a hit. Chloe is having a great time at the carnival, but is annoyed about Leah's sour attitude. Leah asks Chloe if she can leave, but when Chloe says no, she leaves anyway, angering her. Chloe, sick of Leah's behavior, snaps and throws food at her. Leah retaliates back by throwing more food. They have a food fight until Chloe notices people watching them; the customers are disgusted and walk away; most of them decide to go to the Popular Sensations' booth, which is similar to Leah's earlier fashion idea. Maryann walks over to their booth and warns them that because of the food fight, they had gotten rid of most of their food and as a result, would not earn any money. Chloe begins to feel guilty about what she had done, but Leah seems to be satisfied about her behavior. A few minutes later, Ellie and Daphne decide to visit the booth, and are surprised that there is barely any food there. Chloe tells them what had happened. Ellie seems to believe that Leah started a food fight to get people to support a fashion-related idea, and officially decides to end her friendship with her. Leah is hanging out at the cheerleaders' booth when Maryann, Daphne, and Ellie walk up to her. She feels a little guilty that her friends aren't going to raise money, but believes that her fight with Chloe had been worth it since she had gotten fed up with Chloe's bossy behavior. Daphne rages at Leah for her behavior and tells her that Ms. Thomas will be upset with them, but mostly Chloe, for not raising any money. The girls tell her that the carnival meant a lot to Ms. Thomas, and Leah actually begins to feel bad about what she had done. She tries to talk to Gail about the situation, but Gail sides with Chloe and calls Leah out on her babyish behavior. Leah decides to apologize to Chloe for her actions, but at first, Chloe doesn't want to talk to her. Finally, Chloe admits that yelling at Leah didn't get them anywhere when they were planning the booth, and apologizes for being a control freak. The girls make up, but they don't have any idea to save their booth. Leah notices that her neighbor is at the carnival, and remembers that she had hosted a bake sale at the community center yesterday. Leah asks her neighbor if she has any food left over from it, and to her relief, she does. While Mrs. Santos goes home to retrieve the food, Leah looks after her children and decides to take them around the carnival. They stop at Leah's friends' booth first, and Leah ends up being glad that she had helped save the booth. Liz arrives back with the food and gives it to Leah's friends so they can sell it to the customers. The booth goes back into business, and more customers arrive back to buy food. They continue earning money until the carnival ends. The girls end up earning almost a thousand dollars. While the students are dismantling their booths and cleaning up, Leah decides to apologize to Ellie for her behavior towards her the past few weeks. Ellie forgives her and the two become friends again. Overall, Ellie is glad that the carnival had gone well. Characters (in order of appearance) * Chloe Winters * Daphne Carson * Maryann Chang * Angela Thomas * Leah Harrison * Ellie Jackson * Alex Sanders * Eliza * Arabella Wilson * Regina Daniels * Gail Edwards * Jessie Sanchez * Freddy Hamilton * Ms. Jackson * Katelyn Sanders * Alyson Wallace * Shavonne Williams * Liz Santos Trivia *This book was rewritten four times. First edition, 2009. Fourth edition, 2014. Category:Stories Category:Articles under construction